Chapter 501: Huhu's Little Brother Doesn't Have the Guts to Do This Kind of Thing

Houndoom stared at Luo Mu for quite a while, saying nothing.

If you hadn't popped up, I would still be majestically leading over a hundred of my kin.

Strangely enough, Luo Mu could roughly discern what it was thinking just from Houndoom's gaze.

It was probably because it had already entered middle age; having seen so much, its eyes always held a bit more drama.

After all, it even understood type advantages, knowing to use "Sludge Bomb" against the Mawile during battle; its intelligence in this regard seemingly surpassed Ash, who had been playing with electric therapy for so many years yet occasionally forgot that Ground-types are immune to Electric-types.

Regarding Houndoom's faint yet palpable accusation, Luo Mu felt deeply aggrieved.

"Think about it: in the future, you can still patrol that area, but without Salazzle as an opponent; wherever you go, you'll be full of glory, and our farm's security will rely entirely on you!"

Houndoom: "."

I believe your nonsense.

Ever since officially entering the farm, it had put away the arrogant nature it held as a leader, where its word was law and everyone had to bow their heads and avoid eye contact upon seeing it.

The reason was simple: in the farm established by this human named Luo Mu, there were hidden tigers and coiled dragons.

Just walking past any one of them could make it, a Houndoom capable of driving away Elite Trainers who attempted to capture it, feel an intense sense of crisis.

Especially when passing that fluffy large bug, which looked a size bigger than a Houndour and was said to have hatched from its Pokémon Egg only a few days ago, Houndoom's very Dao heart shattered.

That Pokémon, seemingly called Victini, merely touched Volcarona, and the flames Volcarona released nearly exploded it on the spot, having just passed by and automatically triggered its "Flash Fire" ability.

It was simply ridiculous.

Compared to safeguarding the farm's safety, Houndoom felt that it was the one in need of self-preservation.

And to speak of rules and agreements, about not being bellicose, provoking trouble, or snatching supplies.

It would be a blessing just not to get accidentally caught up in their play and frolicking.

Seeing that Houndoom was impervious to reason or flattery, Luo Mu was at a loss.

He couldn't help but miss the newly hatched Dratini and Growlithe, with their wide, innocent, and bewildered eyes; they were so easy to fool.

This Houndoom was practically becoming a spirit.

In a spot Luo Mu didn't notice, Houndoom's tail wagged gently a few times.

Realizing what it had done, Houndoom was also stunned for a moment.

However, there were indeed quite a few advantages to joining this farm.

Like the thrill of personally defeating Salazzle, its old rival of many years, or the temptation of many delicious foods that made its head spin; both were quite nice.

Compared to going out with its kin to expand territory, or becoming a partner to another human.

Houndoom was more inclined to do what it once did every day: patrol the safety of its "new territory," and then peacefully enter an early retirement life.

After settling the affairs of the entire Houndoom pack, Luo Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With this, the farm's expansion could be considered paused for now.

The wild Pokémon had all been properly settled; later, he would have Oranguru compile a report and submit it to the Paldea League.

The report didn't need to be detailed; generally attaching relevant evidence of proper handling would suffice, waiting for a League commissioner to come back for a follow-up investigation to confirm there was no fraud.

Next, all that remained was to install fences to enclose the land demarcated as part of the farm, and then continue developing it slowly.

There was much to develop, such as the small hill where the Tinkatink lived, including mountain goods produced in various seasons, and even crops that could be planted in the mountains.

But for now, the most important thing was to properly construct the orchard established by that small stream, preferably before Chairman Zhi Mi resolved his confusion and came to visit the farm.

Luo Mu already had a relevant plan in mind.

How to simply and quickly gain fame worldwide? Either have a large amount of promotional funds and a professional team, or accumulate over time.

But Luo Mu chose a third method.

Leveraging another's fame to avoid many detours.

Originally, his choice of person was Iono, but alas, she still had a tiny gap (a universe between fingertips) from becoming the super internet celebrity she appeared as in the game.

Instead, Chairman Zhi Mi's restaurant had already enjoyed considerable worldwide fame in recent months, and he had a habit: every day's menu marked the detailed origin of the ingredients used.

As long as the quality passed muster and the dishes were delicious, gaining fame was entirely foreseeable.

Of course, the premise for all this was that Chairman Zhi Mi would choose to take the apples from the orchard to use as ingredients.

Luo Mu did not intend to rely on his friendship with Chairman Zhi Mi to make demands; everything would depend on quality.

If the other party was willing to take them, that would be best; if not, he would not force the issue.

He wanted to cause trouble for Kitakami, but he wouldn't make a huge fuss over it; doing the farm's work well and making those people feel so aggrieved they couldn't speak was enough.

Correspondingly, he definitely had to build the new orchard well.

Nowadays, every day, Comfey would lead Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others to the new orchard, using Grassy Terrain to help the fruit tree saplings grow robustly; Mudsdale and three Diglett improved the soil's nutrients through plowing, while Politoed and Dragonair took shifts summoning rain clouds to irrigate the soil.

Luo Mu believed he had done these things to the best of his ability.

So.

The only condition lacking was just one more.

"Not necessarily a large amount, but at least it shouldn't rely on a single Appletun to ripen them; it's time to go catch some Applin and bring them back to the farm."

Compared to catching wild Applin, Luo Mu was more inclined to seek out a farm that raised and bred the Applin line.

First, he could select Applin with the "Ripen" ability; second, he could more intuitively observe their personalities, conditions, and other factors.

After all, catching Pokémon in the wild was just like opening a blind box.

That afternoon.

As usual, after letting his medical knowledge +1, Luo Mu brought Volcarona to the glass greenhouse.

Accompanying him, besides Luxray, were Mimikyu, Ogerpon, and the Eevee sisters.

Fortunately, Luo Mu had paid a heavy price to install a constant-temperature system for the glass greenhouse.

Even though cold winds blew outside and the leaves of many normally growing trees turned yellow, enough that a single gust could blow away many.

These fallen leaves, landing on the soil, would decompose over time, increasing the soil's humus content, improving soil structure, and enhancing the soil's water retention and aeration.

Inside the glass greenhouse, the climate remained spring-like year-round; flowers bloomed in profusion, making it an ideal place to soothe one's mood.

"Boniboni!"

As soon as they passed through the certification gate, Wo-Chien excitedly ran toward the flower field.

As a Grass-type Pokémon, Wo-Chien was naturally quite close to natural plants.

Let alone this beautiful flower field that fulfilled all its fantasies. The Eevee sisters followed closely behind, their steps light as they chased after it.

Its small nose, like black beans, sniffed the fragrance of the flowers, its face filled with rapture.

It had been nearly two months since the two of them joined the farm.

The congenital issues of the shiny female Eevee had largely been resolved through gentle conditioning with medicinal liquids made from secret seasoning ingredients.

Not only could she jump up and down, but she could even coordinate with her older sister to engage in Pokémon battles.

As for the already healthy older sister Eevee, under Luo Mu's care, she had further unleashed her potential.

Their previous battle against Houndoom was one of the results of their training.

Luo Mu felt gratified by this, but inevitably began to ponder a certain matter.

Into what type of Eeveelution would the two sisters eventually evolve? This issue wasn't exactly urgent; Luo Mu felt that, just like with Vulpix back then, he should let nature take its course and prepare only when they truly needed it.

Carrying Volcarona, who was squinting with an expression of pure enjoyment, Luo Mu walked to the edge of the flower field and carefully instructed it: "Hold back, don't release any flames."

This flower field, so pleasing to the eye under the meticulous care of Comfey, would be a pity to see burned; besides, he wouldn't be able to explain it to Comfey if it happened.

Luo Mu had learned this from books in the Naranja Academy library, as well as from breeding insights sent to him by Alder after receiving photos of the hatched Volcarona.

Although as a Fire-type Pokémon, Volcarona could grow robustly just by absorbing flames, it was best to have it regularly consume flower nectar to cultivate its Bug-type abilities.

Laying a good foundation early on would affect the outcome when Volcarona eventually broke out of its cocoon to become a "moth."

If not for this reason, Luo Mu would never have taken the risk of bringing Volcarona here to experience sucking nectar firsthand.

Wouldn't feeding it honey from Combee be just as fragrant and sweet?

"Baa~"

With a familiar little bleat, Volcarona moved its small legs, climbed a few steps to a fiery red flower, and clumsily began to suck up the nectar.

However, no matter how hard it tried, lacking convenient organs like those of a Butterfree made the task somewhat difficult.

This left Mimikyu, who had been preparing to go play with Wo-Chien and the others, as well as Luxray, who stayed by Luo Mu's side, unable to do anything but worry anxiously.

Fortunately, reinforcements arrived quickly.

A high-frequency sound of flapping wings came from behind; turning to look, Luo Mu saw that Vespiquen had returned.

Seeing Vespiquen, Luo Mu's eyes lit up, and he waved his hand, saying, "Vespiquen, come help out quickly!"

Perhaps not wanting to have any connection with the daughter she had expelled from her swarm, or perhaps feeling guilty and unwilling to compete with her for resources.

The Vespiquen in the forest hadn't sent any Combee to the farm to collect honey for a long time.

Nowadays, all the Combee honey on the farm was brewed entirely by Vespiquen herself.

With the "skilled" Vespiquen present, teaching Volcarona how to suck nectar should not be a problem.

The newly returned Vespiquen showed some surprise on her face, but mostly joy.

Recently, Luo Mu had been busy handling farm affairs and hadn't come to rest in the glass greenhouse for several days.

Even after evolving, Vespiquen still remembered the past when Luo Mu had held her and left, caring for her meticulously while surrounded by those Combee who had nearly caused her psychological trauma.

Emitting a "buzzing" sound, Vespiquen flew to hover above Volcarona in the flower field; one glance told her exactly what the situation was.

So it didn't know how to suck nectar; that was simple.

Having developed a sense of belonging to the farm, Vespiquen also felt quite fond of "newborns" like Volcarona and was naturally happy to teach.

Luo Mu wasn't sure what she did; he only vaguely sensed some kind of fluctuation before more sounds of flapping wings rang out in succession.

From the hole in the "skirt" beneath Vespiquen's lower body, which resembled a honeycomb, several Combee flew out with a "buzz buzz buzz."

They seemed to have received Vespiquen's orders; circling around Volcarona once, they immediately began demonstrating firsthand how to collect or suck nectar without the corresponding organs.

Volcarona watched them for a while, quickly grasped the knack, let out a cheerful "Baa," and began sucking up the nectar.

Luo Mu wasn't surprised by the appearance of these Combee, after all, he had known about them for quite some time.

In fact, inside the hole in Vespiquen's "skirt," there were still many larvae living there that looked less like Combee and more like a form prior to "evolving" into Combee.

After absorbing enough nectar to complete their development, they would grow into Combee; furthermore, under the command of Vespiquen's pheromones, these larvae could wrap themselves in energy to perform unique moves that only Vespiquen could use.

Attack Order, Defense Order, Heal Order.

Truly miraculous.

The sudden appearance of these Combee had indeed startled Luo Mu at the time.

Otherwise, upon seeing the Pokémon Eggs of the Miltank herd, he might have become even more flushed with anger.

At that time, Luo Mu had once believed that some wild bug from outside had abducted Vespiquen, and he had been so angry he wanted to catch the culprit and drag them out.

It was only under Oranguru's persuasion that he gradually sorted out the facts and calmed down.

In reality, Vespiquen mostly resided within the glass greenhouse, rarely leaving the farm, so she hardly had the conditions to do such a thing.

As for Pokémon belonging to the Bug Egg Group on the farm, besides Vespiquen, there were only the Shuckle siblings.

The younger Shuckle brother was unlikely to do such a thing; it seemed more like Vespiquen's parthenogenesis, anyway, the whole matter was a mystery that left people baffled.

The appearance of these Combee brought tangible benefits; at the very least, Vespiquen no longer needed to work tirelessly all day brewing honey herself while also dividing her attention to build honeycombs, allowing her much more leisure.

After Volcarona finished sucking the nectar, Luo Mu, having let them go off to play, received newly produced Combee honey from Vespiquen.

Sitting in a pavilion with a fine view, admiring the flower field, he enjoyed a cup of simple yet delicious honey water, spent quite some time interacting with Vespiquen, and only then called Luxray to prepare heading to the farm entrance to unload goods.

The new home appliances Clembon had helped him reference had also been arriving one after another.

Two days of peaceful life passed in a flash.

October 21st.

Early in the morning, Luo Mu received a congratulatory phone call from Hearing Hearing Nimo and the other two.

The challenge at the Glaseado Mountain Gym was successful; with all eight badges of the Paldea League now assembled, this meant that Hearing Hearing Nimo had qualified to take the Champion Assessment of the Champion League.

And on that very night.

The final match of the championship tournament at the Silver Conference was about to begin.

The victor would claim the title of Conference Champion, winning the Silver Conference.

As for the two opponents, there was Ye He Yue, the cross-version striker from the Hoenn region.

And there was Ash from Pallet Town, who had broken through all opposition to reach the finals, sparking heated discussion.

(End of Chapter)